FILE PHOTO - Kelly Ellard and her father Lawrence leave the Vancouver courthouse, March 30, 2000. Ellard, who killed 14-year-old Reena Virk near a Victoria-area bridge two decades ago, is asking a parole board to release her from prison.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Adrian Wyld

November 30, 2017 - 1:05 PM

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - A British Columbia woman who killed 14-year-old Reena Virk near a Victoria-area bridge two decades ago has been given conditional approval for day parole.

Kelly Ellard has been granted day parole for six months but she must first complete a residential treatment program for substance abuse.

After six months, the parole board will review the decision.

Ellard, who was 15 at the time of the death, is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

She has had substance abuse issues in the past, including an incident in June 2015.

The two-member panel has ruled that the six-month day parole period will begin as soon as she enters the treatment program.

Ellard, who is 35 years old, first applied for day parole in 2016 and was denied, but in February she was granted temporary escorted absences to go to parenting programs and doctor's appointments with the baby she had while in prison.

She became pregnant last year after having conjugal visits with her boyfriend, who has also served prison time.

The baby lives with Ellard at a women's prison in Abbotsford, B.C.

A court heard that Ellard and several other teens swarmed and beat Virk, before Ellard and a teenage boy followed her across a bridge, smashed her head into a tree and held her underwater until she drowned.

Warren Glowatski was also convicted of second-degree murder and granted full parole in 2010.

Ellard has served about 15 years in prison, having spent some periods out on bail. She was convicted of second-degree murder in 2005 after three trials.

She has recently assumed more responsibility for her part in the murder, saying she rolled Virk's unconscious body into the Gorge waterway. Ellard has continued to deny holding the girl's head underwater.

A two-member panel of the parole board decided in February that Ellard should be granted temporary escorted absences to spend time with her baby. But panel member Alex Dantzer cautioned that she must take more responsibility for the crime.

OPINION The end of a long weekend always feels like a breakup out of a movie. With two lovers parting ways from what has been an incredible adventure and Take my breath away playing in the background. They